It's a dog's holiday

IT was the first holiday that Diva would not be spending cooped up for hours in a kennel.

The two-year-old pampered pooch couldn't wait to meet her canine friends at the dog-friendly accommodation lined up on WA's southern coast.

Even the five-hour trip in the back of the car from Perth to Albany (with a few pit stops, of course) wasn't all that difficult to handle for a sprightly rhodesian ridgeback.

Window down, head out, nose sniffing the country air, it was an adventure with many two and four-legged sights to see that don't exist in suburbia.

And it was all made possible by holiday accommodation owners who put out the welcome mat for dogs – as long as the canines behave themselves.

There are dog rules to be observed, both inside and outside, at Coraki Holiday Cottages, nestled on 5ha on the shores of Oyster Harbour, 12km from fast-growing Albany.

Coraki means the meeting place of waters and is aptly named because it's where the King and Kalgan rivers join.

Inside the six cosy cottages, the rules include no hounds sleeping in the bedrooms, on furniture or soft furnishings, or leaving them inside while owners slip off to enjoy themselves.

In the extensive grounds, owners are urged to keep their animals under control at all times to protect local wildlife, which includes two emus and a kangaroo in an enclosure on the property of owners Graham and Rebecca Freeman. Their dog, Molly, is always ready for a run around the foreshore with new four-legged visitors.

The couple, who bought the property seven years ago, said the previous owners had introduced the dog-friendly concept.

"When we first took over Coraki, we did consider whether to continue allowing dogs into the cottages," Mrs Freeman said.

"Then we realised that it was really a niche market with so few establishments accommodating the family dog.

"It seems, increasingly, that dogs are being viewed as more than the family pet, rather a very special part of the family.

"Our guests have been extremely responsible and their dogs are like their babies or children, often arriving with more accessories than a guest would bring for a real baby.

"Many visitors travelling with dogs are seniors who would never dream of putting their pet in a kennel. They appreciate and respect our guidelines."

Mrs Freeman recalled a few incidents when dogs had hoodwinked their owners and found their way into the enclosure with the emus in hot pursuit.

"Emus can be pretty unfriendly and this is one the reasons that we insist dogs are kept on a lead," she said.

After Coraki, the next sleepover for Diva was at Cape Howe Cottages, at breathtaking Lowlands Beach, between Albany and Denmark.

Cape Howe owners David and Gaynor Clarke have one cottage available for dogs (also a maximum of two). Called The Snug, it's a cottage on 21ha teeming with birds and wildlife.

Dog rules are a bit stricter here than at Coraki because the Clarkes prefer dogs to be kept outside The Snug on the partly covered veranda.

But they understand that on cold nights, dogs can curl up in front of the wood fire, just like their own bearded collies – Teddy and Trapper – do at home.

During the day, dogs have complete freedom in the fully fenced, half-acre grounds surrounding The Snug.

At the end of their "holiday" dog owners can pamper their pooches with a hose down in a hydrobath that the Clarkes bought to ensure their pet visitors go home as clean as when they arrived.

"Hundreds of dogs have stayed with us and only a few have been a problem," Mrs Clarke said.

"The worst case was when a couple with two dogs left them in the cottage and went out for the day. When they returned, the dogs had chewed and scratched doors and windows and damaged the reticulation. And one of their owners was a vet!"

The couple, who met in Switzerland while Mrs Clarke was on holiday with her father and Mr Gaynor was working for a UK-based tour operator, moved south from the Perth Hills 10 years ago.

They lived in the The Snug, which they renovated, before building a new home on their private nature reserve.

Today, they also run four award-winning deluxe cottages – with another on the drawing board – on their property and on 40ha of nearby leased farmland and bush, including Kings Den, which they named after a friend who died before the luxury retreat was finished.

At Cape Howe, The Snug's visitors' book sums up the holiday experiences of many contented dog owners.

These include: "Ollie loved it, too. He will be back." – the Nelson family.

"Still good medicine! See you next year with the hounds," John and Sanora (two legs) and Jenny and Ben (four legs).

Dog-friendly accommodation is hard to find, but it does exist in some WA holiday spots.

In the US and Canada, it is available in five-star hotels, including the Hilton Resort and Spa, in Whistler, British Columbia, where there is even a dog concierge.

At Loews' hotels, you can offer your pooch some hand-made meals cooked from veterinarian-approved recipes.

The chain of 18 hotels in the US and Canada claims to be the first national hotel chain to cater for pets with a "Loews Loves Pets" program.

There's even a dish specially designed to help with pet jet lag – the Great Vegetable Feast.

While Diva wasn't spoilt by such tasty morsels during her stay on the southern coast, she had a holiday that every dog would envy.